Southwest Gas employees are
pulling together to offer support to the family of Evan Breton, a one-year-old
Bullhead City child, and son of local Southwest Gas Sales Representative Garth
Breton.

Evan is a happy baby and a
natural ham. When the camera comes out, he beams. His dark eyes
glisten, and a smile extends beyond his mouth as his whole face lightens with
joy. Breton is in the early stages of trying to talk, babbling as if any
adult nearby should understand.

At first glance, you'd never
notice that he seldom kicks, or that he has trouble holding his head up
straight. It isn't until you speak to his parents, Garth and Skarleth
Breton, do you learn that he can't.

Evan Breton will never be able
to do those things. He has recently been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular
Atrophy (SMA). In fact, the little muscle control that he has now, he will
lose. Even more sadly, there is no treatment and no cure.

SMA is a rare form of muscular
dystrophy. Breton's pediatrician claims to have only seen one other case
in his professional career and that was 17 years ago. His parents have
been told that their son is the only known case in Mohave County.

The disease, the number one
genetic killer of children under the age of two, destroys the nerves that
control voluntary movement, which affects crawling, walking, head and neck
control and even swallowing. The Bretons have been told by doctors that
their son will eventually succumb to the disease. For the Bretons, every
additional day provides a glimmer of hope for a cure.

According to Skarleth, she and
husband Garth are carriers of the disease, a requirement for any of their
offspring to be afflicted. There was only a one in four chance that any of
their children would acquire the disease.

"We're coping pretty
well," said Garth. "Of course, we were shocked when doctors at
Children's Hospital in Phoenix explained their findings to us. And we were
truly saddened when we learned that the disease is almost always fatal,
especially for infants.

"After the initial shock
wore off, we decided the time we had left with our son would be quality time, we
want to make every minute count."

The Bretons won't have to go
through this time alone. Their faith is strong and they have support from
friends, including the employees of the Bullhead City District office of
Southwest Gas, where Garth is a sales representative.

For the last month, members of
the Southwest Gas Employee Volunteer Team (EVT) have been meeting after work to
build a playhouse, called the "Blue Bayou Shack", (because of its
color). The playhouse will be raffled off October 21, during the annual
Hardyville Days celebration. Proceeds from the raffle will be donated to
"Families of SMA", the largest international organization dedicated to
eradicating the disease.

The playhouse is anything but
ordinary. The structure stands 15 feet high, and sets on an eight-foot by
eight-foot platform, with an open four-foot by eight-foot porch and windows on
each side.

"We had to do something
for Evan and we all wanted to help," said Yvonne Montoya, EVT member and
project coordinator. "Evan is our Southwest Gas angel.

"The employees of
Southwest Gas in Bullhead City are like a family, especially when it comes to
our kids. When one of us is in trouble, we all want to help."

The Mohave Valley Contractors
Association provided the building materials for the project, and Garth, along
with Yvonne, Mike Higgins, Adam Nicander, and Chris Montoy have been working two
hours every Tuesday and Thursday after work at the Southwest Gas warehouse to
complete the project.

"This is a terrific
company," said Garth. "There are so many good causes in the
community. It was a terrific gesture by the employees to do this for Evan.
It shows they really do care about one another and our community.

"Skarleth's sister Mariam
Barth, is the only family either of us has in the community. The employees
have been a tremendous inspiration to us."

According to Montoya, the
committee hopes to put the playhouse on display several times during the next
few months to promote ticket sales.

"We haven't quite figured
out how we're going to move the house," said Montoya. "We'll
have to use a forklift and a flat-bed truck to move it."

The group has 1,000 tickets
printed and hopes to raise $3,000 before the playhouse is raffled off in
October. Tickets can be purchased at Southwest Gas, 1705 Langford Drive,
from Yvonne Montoya or Garth Breton for $5 each, or three for $10. Checks
should be made out to Spinal Muscular Atrophy.